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American Promise: A middle-class African-American couple living in Brooklyn, Joe Brewster and Michele Robertson, hatched an unusual project when their son Idris and his friend Seun were accepted at the Dalton School, one of New York’s most prestigious academic institutions. Like any parents of a gifted kid, Brewster and Robertson expected “great things” now that their progeny was on such a promising trajectory.

But rather than settle for snapshots and report cards, they wanted a rather more extensive record of these boys’ childhoods. Starting from the day Idris and Seun first headed to the Upper East Side to start kindergarten together, Brewster and Robertson kept a camera at the ready to chronicle the events of their lives as students over the next 13 years.

The result of this unusually protracted process American Promise, a documentary that won awards at several major U.S. festivals, including a jury award at Sundance, has a limited run at the Bloor Hot Docs Cinema Jan. 4 to 7. And though the filmmakers’ methods are sometimes rough-hewn and uncomfortably intrusive — it’s clear that Idris and Seun sometimes long for a little more privacy — American Promise proves to be remarkably revealing about matters of race, privilege, educational opportunities and other issues facing contemporary families, and not just the ones who live in New York. It should be of vital interest to parents, educators and any moviegoer who appreciates views of real life in the raw. Brewster and Robertson participate in Skype Q&As after the screenings on Jan. 4 and 5.

Reservoir Dogs + Lawrence of Arabia: Quentin Tarantino’s crew and Peter O’Toole battle for supremacy over the Event Screen lineup at Cineplex’s Yonge-Dundas Square location as the venue hosts limited runs for Reservoir Dogs and Lawrence of Arabia starting Jan. 3. The besuited bank robbers in Tarantino’s admirably ruthless 1992 debut might seem to have the edge over any competition, what with Mr. Blonde’s fondness for straight razors and the inevitability of a Mexican standoff or two. Yet it’s hard to imagine Mr. Pink or Mr. Orange ever possessing the same steely fortitude as the heroic desert warrior in David Lean’s Oscar-winning 1962 epic, which makes its first return to local screens since O’Toole’s passing last month at the age of 81. Let’s call it a draw until we see who makes it through the sandstorm.

More kid flicks: Many local theatres will offer some relief to parents who have exhausted all other efforts to distract their kids on holiday break. TIFF Bell Lightbox wraps up its program of favourites by Studio Ghibli on Jan. 3 with screenings of Princess Mononoke (1 p.m.), Howl’s Moving Castle (4:45 p.m.) and Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (7:30 p.m.). Arguably the snappiest of all talking-critter flicks, Babe, plays the first of two Saturday afternoon screenings this month at the Royal on Jan. 4 at 2 p.m. Meanwhile, some similarly loquacious members of the animal kingdom lay siege to Jellystone Park in the 2010 big-screen version of Yogi Bear; it plays Cineplex’s Family Favourites Saturday-morning movie program on Jan. 4 at 11 a.m. at several theatres in the GTA, including SilverCity Yorkdale and the Queensway.

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In brief: Natalie Portman makes nice with a masked bomber who talks real swell in V for Vendetta, which plays Jan. 9 at six local Cineplex locations as part of the chain’s Most Wanted Movies series.

Still mad that Spike Lee’s lousy remake of Oldboy didn’t include that octopus scene? Go see Chan-wook Park’s kick-ass original at the Royal on Jan. 8 at 9:15 p.m.

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